Manufacturing  |  Food & Beverage
CEO
City Brewing Co. | La Crosse
Ross Sannes has spent the past decade at City Brewing Co., progressing from vice president of business development and operations to chief operating officer to chief executive officer. Sannes was named chief executive of the La Crosse-based contract brewery in 2021 following its acquisition by a group of investors. Sannes succeeded former CEO George Parke III.
Under the equity investment, investors Charlesbank Capital Partners, Oaktree Capital Management LLC, Blue Ribbon Partners LLC and City Brewing’s management now own 100% of the company. City Brewing claims to be the largest full-service alcoholic beverage contract manufacturer in the U.S. It provides co-packing and supply chain services to customers across its hard seltzer, traditional FMB, beer, spirit-based RTD, and premium non-alcoholic beverage brands.
At the time of the equity investment, City Brewing announced it would make a $630 million investment to accelerate the company’s growth, enhance its innovation capabilities and meet demand from key customers.
Part of its investment included its acquisition of the historic Irwindale brewery in southern California from Pabst Brewing Co. Now named the Irwindale Brew Yard, the facility is the largest full-service, low-alcohol beverage contract production facility in the western United States, according to City Brewing. It’s expected to have capacity of 110 million cases per year by 2024. Sannes has said the brewery rounds out the company’s national footprint.
The company operates four facilities, which are located in La Crosse; Memphis; Latrobe, Pennsylvania; and Irwindale, California. It has more than 1,800 employees.
Education: Bachelor’s, University of North Dakota and Minnesota State University Moorhead